Ugly Gets Uglier as Kings Hand Knicks Their Worst Setback of the Season
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSMARCH 3, 2015
Rudy Gay scored 25 points, DeMarcus Cousins had 22 and Ben McLemore finished with 20 on Tuesday as the Sacramento Kings handed the Knicks their worst loss of the season, 124-86, at Madison Square Garden.
The Kings scored the first 4 points and never trailed. They built the lead to 16 after the first quarter and to as many as 44 in in the second half before winning by 38.
Alexey Shved led the Knicks with 15 points. Jason Smith and Shane Larkin had 13 each.
After shooting only 35 percent (7 for 20) from the field in the first quarter, the Knicks were even worse in the second, going 6 for 24 (25 percent). Their previous worst loss was by 28 points to Charlotte at the Garden, 110-82, on Jan. 10.
Sacramento started the second half on a 27-9 run and opened up a game-high 44-point lead, 92-48, on Gay’s 3-pointer with 6 minutes 1 second left in the third.
The Knicks responded by scoring the next 12 points and eventually got as close as 28, 100-72, on Smith’s jumper early in fourth quarter. That was as close as they came.
Gay, Cousins and McLemore all sat out the fourth quarter.
Cousins finished with a game-high 10 rebounds, while also going 11 for 11 from the free-throw line.
Derrick Williams scored 17 points for the Kings. Nik Stauskas added 15 and Omar Casspi had 14.
Shved and Cole Aldrich each had 7 rebounds for the Knicks.
